The 1918 World Series had some interesting things about it. Because of the war raging in Europe, the major league baseball season was shortened and the series took place during early September.

During the 7th inning stretch of game 1 the band started playing “The Star Spangled Bannner “. It was the first time that the song was played during a professional sporting event.

Babe Ruth pitched a shutout in game 1, and his record 29 2/3 inning scoreless streak came to an end during the 8th inning of game 4. Babe Ruth also batted in the number six position in game 4. He is the last starting pitcher in World Series history to bat in a position other than 9th.

Watching for domain mentions via Google alerts sometimes brings up other interesting things that took place in 1918. The list below is just some of them.

On March 11, 1918, a devastating public health crisis began in the U.S. The disease was called the “Spanish Influenza,” and first hit soldiers at Fort Riley, Kansas, just back from fighting in Europe. The virus moved quickly and in October of 1918 195,000 Americans perished. In one day alone, 851 New Yorkers died. By 1920, nearly one-in-four Americans had suffered from this strain of the flu, killing a half-million of them. But even less dramatic forms of the disease are deadly. Each year, more than 56,000 Americans die of the flu and pneumonia. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)